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Annette was an established cover girl early in her career and continued to dominate the face of teen and celebrity newsstand issues on a regular basis through the latter part of the '60s.  When not featured alone, she shared covers with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Fabian, Sandra Dee, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Paul Anka, Hayley Mills, Ed Byrnes, Connie Stevens, Bobby Rydell, Richard Chamberlain, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Margret, Patty Duke, Sally Field, Marlo Thomas, Michael Landon, Nancy Sinatra and a number of her Disney co-stars. If you're familiar with our website, you'll know we have an image gallery dedicated to Annette's best and most classic magazine covers that were released throughout her lifetime. For a while now, I've been wanting to share some of the great Annette material found on the pages behind  those colorful covers we've already featured; so we'll begin that ongoing project in this blog entry with a favorite cover is...

It's simply not often enough that I have the opportunity to alert our readers of a brand new Annette related product, but finally, the long dry spell between such releases has come to an end with the book, Annette Funicello: Tributes from Fans and Friends . Rita Rose, former president of Annette's international fan club, has compiled the personal memories and reflections of over forty individuals who are related to, have met, worked with or befriended this most likable star.  While Annette is famously remembered for being the same person in her daily life as she appears on screen, this book takes you deeper and reveals some of the lesser known dimensions of her character and personality.  Find out what it was like to encounter Annette as a fan, to be a guest in her home, to collaborate with her in the recording studio and attend to her on-set or on one of her early promotional tours in the '60s.  Some share how they first learned and reacted to the news of Annette...

When it comes to Annette cut-out dolls, it's fair to say that among the rarest isn't one of the brightly colored doll books produced by Whitman Publishing for retail markets between 1956 and 1962...but rather an Annette doll offered for free on the back of a cereal box!  In 1958, General Mills included an Annette cut-out doll on the packaging of Cheerios breakfast cereal.  The doll, doll stand and a few outfits and accessories were printed directly on the back and left-hand side panel of the box, ready to test one's scissor skills and provide hours of playtime fun. While vintage, uncut cereal box panels with the Cheerios doll will surface from time-to-time on the collectors market, surprisingly, the front panel featuring unique and charming artwork of Annette promoting the doll included with purchase was rarely if ever preserved.  Even rarer are complete, fully assembled boxes which are nearly impossible to find today. Given it's scarcity, I feel especially f...